SDCC 2013: Harald Zwart On Making The Mortal Instruments A Standout YA Adaptation

If you caught our live blog of the “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” panel this afternoon, you know director Harald Zwart did something very right because the footage unveiled was notably absorbing and rocked a significant amount of impressive and highly memorable imagery.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Cassandra Clare book upon which the film is based, “Mortal Instruments” centers on Lily Collins’ Clary Fray. She’s a normal New York City girl one day, but the next, her mother is attacked and kidnapped and Clary must accept that werewolves, vampires, warlocks, faeries, and more exists because the only way she can get her mother back is by teaming up with Shadowhunters, a secret human race born with angelic blood, tasked with keeping the demons of the world at bay.

Even though “The Mortal Instruments” isn’t due in theaters until August 21st, Zwart is already prepping for the second film of the series with plans to shoot in the fall, so it looks as though the Shadowhunters are here to stay. Get a sense of what the “Mortal Instruments” film franchise will have to offer straight from Zwart himself in the video interview below during which we discuss his choice to shoot on film, his experience collaborating with Clare, having been inspired by “The Exorcist,” and loads more.